The biggest reason why I am not successful in poker the way I should be is I always break bankroll management rules. I can't help myself, I feel that need for the big win, so I play higher stakes than I am roled for, and I suffer as a result. In addition I guess I can also say I don't feel excited when I play levels within my bankroll, as if its too low for me, which I know is stupid but its how I have been acting towards this game a lot recently. A few weeks ago on Full Tilt I had $3600, and after tonight I have $400 because I needed to 'get back my loses' or enter bigger tourmaments that has a large prize pools. It like a sickness. I seem to not be able to accept my bankroll restrictions because I want fast money. Even when I play limit holdem live or enter live tournaments I always take the bigger risk and enter higher stakes than I should. What is wrong with me? I am crying here because I hate myself over this. I love poker so much and have a strong desire to make it a full time career in 5 years, but it will never happen until I solve this problem. Right now I have $400 in my Full tilt account and $6000 in my bank account for poker, which I can use for live, online or both. I don't want to go completely broke but I don't know how to force myself to stay within the proper limits of either limit holdem or no limit tournaments. Should I see a psych doctor to figure this out? Is it possible you can have a problem in your brain that makes you 'gamble it up' so to speak in poker? Please someone help me learn to control myself and be happier playing stakes I am rolled for rather than taking the risk at higher games. Even as I type this I want to enter a $55 dollar tournament on FT because of the high prize pool. Even though I almost have a complete roll for this offline, I should not have this gambling desire. I used to have similar problems at blackjack and casino table games which cost me thousands. I can't let that problem kill my bankroll anymore but I am at a loss. Is there any medication for people with this gambling mentality that could help me not be so desperate to win big money fast? Or anything at all? I took a long break from poker recently and that didn't seem to help out either. Thanks for any help with my psychological problem.

Lack of self control.

Put a tasty cheeseburger in front of you, smell it, think about it, imagine eating it....

BUT DON`T EAT IT.

Sit and watch to it till it gets cold.

Then eat it.

repeat i it N^10 times increasing waiting time for "satisfaction."
Its a part of how dog training is being done.

OR

put a porn movie on your screen and don`t masturbate X minutes.

Then after x minutes you can reward yourself

Every time increase time X

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Also- make a deposit limit and restrict higher stakes than 0,01/0,02 NL .

Then play 50, 000 hands at those limits.

Not for money.

For training patience and self control.

If you can not do it- you don`t deserve play at higher stakes.

I started poker with 10$ and grinded it up with strict bankroll discipline only to train my discipline.
( actually i could boost my bankroll to play NL200 instantly )

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Also- you should contact psychologist and that "responsible gambling"

I talked with my coach about it for the first time, he told me that you can set restrictions with FT on the levels you are allowed to play, so I did that just now. Gonna talk with a doctor to see if this is a continuation of my past gambling problems, and see what we can do to control myself.

I had huge BRM problems, moreso since I am a gambling addict which is its own special set of problems that most people don't have on here.

If you are an addict read the following links and the links within the links

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/26...-tl-dr-675186/

If you have 'normal' self control issues, then you need to do a better job of setting and maintaining goals.

Every mammal on the planet responds to positive and negative reinforcement. You need to make a series of goals, adhere to them everyday, reward yourself when you do and punish yourself when you don't. Do this enough times and it becomes habit.

You have to reaffirm your goals daily, and have a visual record of your progress/performance. One thing I like to look at is my chart. Another thing I like to do is keep a portion of my bankroll in my house. I get this warm fuzzy feeling putting money in the hole and watching it grow . That is all part of my reinforcement.

Conversely, when I slip and suffer a degen moment, then I will punish myself with cold showers, fasting, and even once eating oatmeal and salads for breakfast lunch and dinner for a week. Yes, it sounds strange but it works. Incidentally, loss of money to a poker player IS NOT PUNISHMENT. That is a consequence. Whatever punishment you give yourself must be something that you feel and don't like. And it should be something physical since pain/discomfort is the ultimate evolutionary tool that is ideal for curbing bad behavior (despite all the new age nonsense about time outs and talk therapy).

Lastly, I keep a poker journal to catalogue my mental state and I can see patterns that set up my degen moments and i seek to avoid those patterns.

For instance, I notice that I had my biggest degen moments AFTER I have a +$3K winning day. I go on winner's tilt the next day. So, one rule i've established to break this pattern is that if I win greater than $3K, the next day, I don't play poker. I do something else and take a 24hr break.

Anyways, it is not a singular thing you can do once to curb this behavior. It must be viewed as a daily battle. You need constant vigilance because when you lose control, you can spew an entire bankroll in a single day.

And there is no sicker feeling in the world then losing 20-50 buy-ins to a moment of degeneracy.

lastly, there are some books you should read.

Zen and the Art of Poker.
Alcoholic Annymous book.
The Power of Focus.

Reading is extremely important. It is literally a way to program yourself. I can't stress how important reading is to helping to curve unwanted behaviors.

i got the same problem and i know exactly how u feel...ill deposit 1 or 2 grand, take it straight to the 1/2 or 2/4 nl, open up like 6 tables, hit some big wins, double up, then hit a bad run, go on monkey tilt, take entire bankrolll to the 5/10 hu and lose it all...with 2 grand, i just dont feel any excitement playing $0.25/$0.50 or lower

im trying to grind out $0.01/$0.02 cents now, with a couple of hundred bucks or so...for at least a month or two...purely to practice discipline and tilt control...and move on up slowly from there...i've found that I go on crazy tilt even when I get a bad beat in the 2NL room...I didnt think it would affect me being as the money is so little ..but Ive found that tilt and pride is a beast that doesnt discriminate

gl..hope u can overcome this problem and i hope i can too.......maybe ill see u in the 2nl room where we can both practice discipline and bankroll management.lol

unsuccessful poker players can't practice proper bankroll management

you're in it for the excitement and gamble, lol

turn it around! admit you're a .5/1 or 1/2 caliber player and stick to it.. start by playing stakes you can win at consistently, .05/.10 if need be, & move up from there once you have 40+ buy-ins per table at every level.

reading harrington's books on cash and tournament poker helped me quite a bit..also read the poker mindset by hilger

Paragraphs. I give up reading after. Your a fish. Read some investment quotes and philosophy. Multi table. Poker is about volume and momentum otherwise its gambling. Both are good, depends on your desires and its obvious what yours are .

In my opinion, you should read Cognitive Behavior for Dummies. Its a little hard to understand unless you're somewhat smart and I'm assuming you are. It basically helps you break your problem into smaller steps. I had the same problem before too. I would have 1000 bucks and play a bunch of $100 heads up games, and as soon as I hit a downslide, I'd be playing $50, then back at $20 where I dominate. It was a waste of a year.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, FYI I am not a online NL cash player but FL cash and NL tournaments. I emailed FT about restrictions on my account for levels to play, hopefully they respond positivly. I am finally at the breaking point and want to commit myself to this game properly. I am going to pick up the CBT for Dummies book since I have heard good things in my past about that method of mental help. I also think I am going to write up a self contract that has rewards for staying on bankroll and taking breaks when tilting, and punishments for breaking the rules. I just have to commit myself to doing this.

This is a personal problem. Probably relating to the same reason you began to play poker seriously to begin with. You do not want to work to reach something. You don't want to do double practices everyday, but want to become Michael Jordan.

You need to light a fire under your ass and put in the volume/work or forget about this pipedream of a big score.

Also because you are not following safe BR standards you are never truly experiencing just how important a BR is. So you lack the experience of realizing a great player can wiff 30 times in a row. You never reach that point. You play a handful and are left with a stub. You dont appreciate BRM because you have a way of replenshing your roll easily.

Quit trying to find a shortcut.

I think this is a major part of my problem, like most people in life. I gotta recondition myself to accept grinding things out rather than hoping for the big one. That includes poker, my diet, my weight, relationships, etc.

One way you can look at it is you're playing for a result of bb/100 over time, not how much money is in the account. Or ROI if it's sng's. After you feel that requirement has been satisfied to your liking, AND you have the BR you can move up.

old but did you fix those issues OP ? how did that turn out for you?